Minolta

The MD 85 mm f/2 without “Rokkor” designation was Minolta’s last manual focus 85 mm. As the successor of a line of MC 85 mm f/1.7 lenses, the MD is significantly lighter and more compact. Although the optical scheme with […]

The MD 50 mm f/1.4 with 49 mm filter thread from the early 80s is the last f/1.4 standard lens introduced in the Minolta manual focus line-up. The lens is less common than it’s slightly slower MD 50 mm f/1.7 […]

The MD W.Rokkor 24 mm f/2.8 is a high resolution, fast wide angle lens from the late 70’s. It features the same design as the earlier MC-X version: 9 lenses in 7 groups. Due to its superior optical performance, this […]

The MC Rokkor-PG 58 mm f/1.2 was Minolta’s top-of-the line normal lens from the late 60’s until the introduction of the MD 50 mm f/1.2 in 1978. It features 7 lenses in 5 groups and can be regarded as the […]

My trusty but heavily beaten copy of the classic Minolta MC 35 mm f/1.8 came to me with a number of – mostly cosmetic – issues. Besides a bent filter thread and a number of scratches, it was also missing […]

If you already own some Minolta normal or short tele lenses, the thought to add a tele converter to your line-up might have crossed your mind. If so, you may be interested in my review of the MD 300-S with […]

The MC 200 mm f/4.5 is a skinny medium tele from the early seventies. The lens is the smaller cousin of the MD 200 mm f/4 and was mainly offered as a lower-priced alternative. The 200 mm f/4.5 is solidly […]

The Minolta MD 24-35 mm f/3.5 is smaller and less expensive alternative to the often praised MD Zoom 24-50 mm f/4. It’s missing some focal length on the long end, but is half a stop faster in return. Combined with […]

The MD 50 mm f/2 with 49 mm filter thread is the slowest non-macro standard prime produced by Minolta. The lens is less common than it’s slightly faster f/1.7 counterpart which served as a kit lens in the Minolta SR […]

The MD W.Rokkor 35 mm f/1.8 is a fast wide angle from the late seventies and the successor of Minolta’s first fast thirty-five, the MC W.Rokkor-HH 35 mm f/1.8. The MD has the same optical formula with 8 lens elements […]

The MD-II Tele Rokkor 135 mm f/2.8 with 5 lens elements in 5 groups is the successor of Minolta’s legendary MD-I 135 mm f/2.8 with 4/4 design. Although the MD-II offers seemingly more advanced optics, it is often said to […]

The MD W.Rokkor-X 35 mm f/2.8 with 5 lens elements in 5 groups is a pretty regular Minolta wide angle from the late 70’s. It is the successor of the MC versions with more complex designs (7/6) and the “slower […]

The Lens Turbo II is a focal reducer available for E mount, Micro FourThirds and Fuji X cameras, produced by the Chinese company Zhongyi. It was originally ‘inspired’ by the Metabones Speedbooster and reduces the focal length of any attached […]

The Minolta MD Zoom 35-70 mm f/3.5 Macro is the faster alternative to the low-budget 35-70 mm f/3.5-4.8 kit zoom. There are three revisions of the f/3.5 and this copy belongs to the last one, which is the only version […]

The Minolta MD Zoom 70-210 mm f/4 is the successor of the well known 75-200 mm f/4.5 and Minolta’s last tele zoom in this range developed for the SR mount. It is also the most common on the used market […]

The MC Rokkor-PF 58 mm f/1.4 is the faster equivalent to Minoltas 55 mm f/1.8 and f/1.7 standard primes from the 60’s. It has been produced in four versions from which this one (MC-II) is believed to be the best. […]

The MD 2x Tele Converter 300-S is a pretty common Minolta tele converter for lenses with focal lengths of up to 300 mm. It is the shorter cousin of the 2x Tele Converter 300-L which is also known as 2x Converter […]

The MC Macro Rokkor 50 mm f/3.5 is a well respected macro lens produced by Minolta in MC and MD mount with identical optical formula for more than 20 years. The maximum reproduction ratio is 1:2 with the lens as […]

The MC W.Rokkor-HG 35 mm f/2.8 with 7 lens elements in 6 groups is a standard Minolta wide angle lens from the 60’s. There are MC non-X versions of this lens with full metal body and identical optics and there are […]

The MD Varisoft Rokkor 85 mm f/2.8 is a rare specialized lens which was designed as a portraiture-friendly companion of the extremely sharp MD 85 mm f/2.0. The Varisoft features eight aperture blades and a three-stage mechanism which introduces spherical aberrations […]

The Minolta MD Zoom 35-70 mm f/3.5 is the faster alternative to the low-budget 35-70 mm f/3.5-4.8 kit zoom. There are three revisions of the f/3.5 and this copy belongs to the second one. The first version features different optics […]

The Minolta MD Zoom Rokkor 35-70 mm f/3.5 is the faster alternative to the low-budget 35-70 mm f/3.5-4.8 kit zoom. There are three revisions of the f/3.5 and this copy belongs to the first one. The second and third version […]

The MD 28 mm f/2.8 with 7 lens elements is generally considered to be one of Minolta’s best 28 mm, very close to the excellent MC W.Rokkor-SI 28 mm f/2.5 and the MD 28 mm f/2. This “plain MD” f/2.8 without […]

The MD Tele Rokkor 135 mm f/2.8 in the MD-I version with four lens elements (4/4) is one of the most famous Minolta tele lenses. It uses a simpler optical formula than it’s MC predecessors, but performs considerably better. The […]

The MC W.Rokkor-HH 35 mm f/1.8 was Minoltas first “ultra fast” medium wide angle lens. It was later succeeded by the MD W.Rokkor 35 mm f/1.8, which performs a little worse but is much lighter and more compact. The W.Rokkor-HH features […]

The MD Rokkor 50 mm f/1.2 is the successor of the legendary MC Rokkor-PG 58 mm f/1.2, a.k.a. the “bokeh king”. It uses a different optical design, is smaller and lighter. The change from MC to MD in this case […]

The MD Rokkor 50 mm f/1.4 with 55 mm filter thread is the direct successor of the MC Rokkor-PG 50 mm f/1.4. It uses a new optical formula, is smaller and has very different image characteristics. It is generally considered […]

The RF Rokkor 250 mm f/5.6 is one of the most sought after lenses in the Minolta SR system. Though it was produced in not-so-small quantities, used prices for this lens today are through the roof. This is often attributed […]

The MC Rokkor-PG 50 mm f/1.4 is the successor of the MC Rokkor-PF 58 mm f/1.4. The 50 mm is often said to be Minoltas sharpest standard prime in the SR system, although some insist that the MC Rokkor-PG 58 […]